October 7th and the roots of European anti-Semitism

  • 18:30 - 20:00 (followed by a reception)
  • Monday 29th September 2025
  • TBA (Central Brussels)

On the second anniversary of the Hamas massacre of October 7 the questions thrown up by the massacre – for the Middle East and indeed the world – have not gone away. A significant number of hostages taken from Israel into Gaza remain in captivity; fighting continues on the ground; and the region has witnessed new rounds of armed conflict over the past two years. At the same time, antisemitism has flared anew across the Western world. While many interpret recent developments primarily as a reaction to the war between Israel and Hamas, the assaults against Jewish communities in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and elsewhere in Europe can hardly be understood merely as expressions of protest against the Israeli army. 

What drives the perpetrators who vandalize synagogues and attack visibly religious Jews in their traditional attire? Why do large numbers of students at elite universities in the West align themselves with Hamas terrorists – responsible for the massacre of Jewish infants, women, and the elderly to a scale that has been unparalleled since the Holocaust – under the illusion of defending human rights? What role is played by Europe’s centuries-old traditions of antisemitism? How did the anti-Zionist sentiments nourished by globalism and post-national postmodern conceptions become transformed into a driving force of antisemitism worldwide? Moreover, how do the demographic realities reshaped by the 2015 migration wave, as well as the influx of funding from Gulf states – particularly Qatar – into Western educational institutions, affect these dynamics? 

MCC Brussels and the MCC Middle East Research Project are pleased to host this hard-hitting discussion in Brussels with distinguished speakers from Israel, the United States, and Europe. The event is invitation only.

Speakers:

Daniel Pipes, historian, political commentator, founder of the Middle East Forum, USA 

Daniel Ben-Ami, journalist and author, UK

Fanni Surjányi, Head of the Middle East Research Project, MCC, HU

Chair: Frank Furedi, Executive Director, MCC Brussels